Delay in lodging FIR in sexual assault cases: No issue if the delay is explained, says Bombay HC

Delay in lodging FIR in sexual assault cases: No issue if the delay is explained, says Bombay HC

Mumbai/Maharashtra, August 17: If there is delay in lodging a First Information Report (FIR) in cases of sexual offences , if properly explained would have no bearing on the result of the trial, said Bombay High Court on Monday. The order of Bombay High Court was issued was to justify the conviction of a city resident for raping a minor in October 2007.

According to the prosecution, at the location Antop Hill in Mumbai, the resident Murigan Devendra raped the minor on October 2, 2007, while she was alone at home. After the assault, the minor girl consumed 18 of her mother’s tablets and got unconscious. Her parents took her to hospital, where she gained consciousness on October 4. The First Information Report was lodged the next day, resulting in the arrest of Murigan Devendra.

On December 20, 2008, a session in court condemned Murigan Devendra and sentenced him to 7 years imprisonment. Murigan Devendra pleaded in he High Court, declared that the minor girl’s family has reported false accusations due to the earlier enmity. The plea said that the delay in lodging the First Information Report was fatal to the case.

The Justice AM Badar denied the submission, declared that the delay was “trivial.”

The survivor was unconscious, so the minor girl could reveal the incident on October 4. AM Badar added that the delay was perfectly explained as the family was shocked after the assault. AM Badar rejected the argument over “enmity”, and said that it is an ambiguous weapon , which meant that it may have persuaded the accused to take revenge by raping the girl.